1, March 2014
Stanford Alum Speaks Out
Stanford alum, Fadi Quran and fellow activist, Irene Nasser (co-producer of
the film My
Neighborhood, Winner of the 2012 Peabody Award), were visiting Stanford to highlight the deteriorating plight of the
Palestinians. A large crowd of students listened with rapt attention as Fadi
described his brutal treatment by Israeli soldiers responding to a peaceful
demonstration in Hebron to open a main street that was closed to protect a
couple of hundred illegal settlers. Fortunately, the brutal crackdown was
captured on video and generated international outrage which led to Fadi’s early
release. His activism - attempting to desegregate Israeli-only buses (“Freedom
Ride” of 2011) in the West Bank won
him world-wide acclaim and prompting Time Magazine to name him “the face
of the new Middle East.” Under Israeli Military Law 101 a gathering of more
than 10 Palestinians is illegal under the draconian military law punishable by
years in prison and fines. Fadi’s current non-violent activism is modelled on
that used by the African National Congress in South Africa and by the Civil
Rights Movement in the U.S. Fadi’s talk was followed by a video presentation by
Irene Nasser who showed extremely disturbing images of Israeli soldiers
arresting young children as young as 5 years as a strategy to silence critics
of the oppressive occupation. This comes on the heel of a new report
by Amnesty International which finds Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank
are killing Palestinian civilians with complete impunity which constitutes serious
war crimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment